Most gasoline dispensing pumps heretofore have used mechanical gear trains to provide price multiplication. They indicate the total value of a sale by forming a visible signal which is indicative of the sale. This is obtained from a flow meter of some form which rotates a shaft, thereby rotating a set of gears. Price multiplication is accomplished in the gear system after receiving the price per gallon as an input. The result is the display of a price which is obtained by rotation of certain rotatable wheels having price numbers painted on the periphery of the wheels.
With the advent of self service stations, it is helpful to provide electronic repeaters at a remote location. It is somewhat difficult to arrange an electronic repeater where the basic source of the data is in fact a mechanical wheel rotated by a gear system and which is read by visual inspection. The use of a repeater is advantageous in self service stations where a single operator tends the cash register and reads repeaters for 8 or 10 pumps. Accordingly, the equipment of the present invention has multiple advantages, one being the adaptbility of this invention with a remote electronically driven price repeater.
The present invention is a convertor for use with a gasoline pump which has a mechanical or gear driven price multiplier. This equipment is adapted to be placed on top of a pre-existing pump. It incorporates a housing which holds the visible numeral displays which form the numbers of the price. This is particularly useful in view of the changeable background lighting and environment of filling station pumps.
Mechanical multipliers utilizing price wheels with numbers painted thereon do not have the reliability of the device which is disclosed herein. The present invention provides a more legible and flexible convertor; accordingly, it is able to be installed on a pump housing. It is disclosed herein as an attachment which is particularly suitable for positioning on top of a gasoline pump housing. Where the pump is a double pump, duplicate sets of equipment in the housing can be incorporated. A readout is provided on the front and back. It is not limited to being an accessory; in addition, it can be initially constructed in the cabinet of a pump housing. Accordingly, the representation of this invention as an accessory is not to be treated as a limitation thereon.
The present invention utilizes gas discharge planar display devices formed into seven segments to visibly indicate the decimal digits, thereby indicating price per gallon, quantity sold, and the total price. These numbers are visually flashed by the multi-segment displays.